


I Found This Cat in The Cold, I Don’t Know If I’m Going to Keep It Yet

by Tiashe_Silverfox



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat Gueira, Cat Lio, Cat Meis, Cat!Mad Burnish, Firefighter Galo, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiashe_Silverfox/pseuds/Tiashe_Silverfox
Summary: ......And I think I'm going to keep it.Man found a stray, stray hates him.That's the whole story.
Relationships: Lio Fotia & Galo Thymos
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	1. In Which A Cat Was Found

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my chatmates in Tumblr for escalating the original idea of Galo having a cat named Lio. Many thanks to apollumist and promare0919 for supplying the wonderful details.

The night was freezing when Galo finally finished his shift at the fire station. His muscles stiffed and tired for hauling heavy boxes and helping Lucia testing her new inventions. There weren’t any fires today, which counted as a small blessing. He decided when he reached home, he would get that nice hot shower, order pizza and get a movie in before retiring for the night.

As he hummed a tired but happy tune, soft fluffy cold began to flutter down from the sky, “Woah, winter’s coming in early this year.” He tucked his jacket closer and picked up the pace. His house was located in downtown, no further than three blocks away from where he worked.

When he passed by an empty dark alley way, something caught his attention.

Galo pause his steps, ears straining to hear in the quiet night. It was a ridiculously cold night, most people had opted to stay indoors for warmth and the alley was dark. But Galo could swear he heard something just now.

“Meow……” There! A weak sounding squeak of meowing voiced out from the dark.

The man quickly dashed into the dark, hoping to found the source. Another squeak sounded out, helping him pinpointing the source of distress from underneath a pile of soggy cardboard boxes. He gingerly moved away the boxes before discovering the limp body underneath.

It was a cat.

Galo was not able to tell what color it supposed to be originally, he hurry picked up the thin furry body, its heartbeat weaken with the cold and lack of food, shown by how Galo could basically feel its ribcage. He tucked the cat into his coat and zipped it up, hoping that his body warmth was sufficient to provide temporally. Once the cat was secured, he ran back the remaining distance to his house.

First thing he did once he unlocked his door was to crank up the thermostat. Setting it to a nice twenty five degree Celsius, Galo only then dared to let the cat out of his coat. Hurriedly, he dug up some towels from the bottom of his drawer, making a makeshift nest for the poor cat and placed the nest near to the heater. The cat was no longer meowing in distress when Galo first tucked it into his coat.

Galo ransacked his fridge, pulling out a package of chicken breast he got few days ago. He lighted the stove, had a pot of water on to boil the meat in order to make something easy for the cat to eat, like chicken puree. He just hoped that he wasn’t too late to save it.

When he’s done preparing the food, Galo found the cat was barely awake, fighting to keep its consciousness with what little strength left. He had grabbed an unused syringe from the first-aid kit earlier. Filling it up with the mush food, he approached the cat with caution, not wanting to cause any more stress. Its dusty nose twitched at the syringe in front of it, before long it latched onto it, greedily suckled down the food given.

Soon, the bowl was empty and the cat felt asleep satisfied with a full stomach.

Seeing the cat settled down, only then Galo dared to relax. So much for a relaxing evening, thank god he wasn’t scheduled a shift tomorrow. Maybe he could get it to visit a vet……Hopefully. He still compromised with a hot shower and some quick salad for dinner with the leftover chicken from before. Then he retired to his room with him laptop, searching the net for information on cats.

Morning came, Galo woke up to birds chirping outside of his window ledge and his laptop slipping off of him. The device landed with a muted thump on his bed. Blinking awake, Galo reluctantly rolled off of bed to get started with his morning routine.

He was just preparing coffee in the kitchen while brushing his teeth as a noise came from his living room. Galo, who was confused about the noise, went to investigate before remembering what he did the night before going to bed.

His guest was awake and now very much a puffed up ball of shock and anger, bright ember-ish eyes glaring dagger and hissing. The vet blog he found did mention that cats are more sensitive to their surroundings and would be stress if they were moved to a new environment. Figuring how hostile the kitty was, Galo decided to give it some space.

He still has to purchase a carrier to bring the cat to the vet.

After a quick run to the local pet store after breakfast, Galo had gotten a mint green cat carrier and some basic necessities. He had left some food and water for it, but it seemed untouched, looked like it was too weary to eat. The cat had gotten to hide behind couch, keeping its eyes on Galo’s movement.

Galo didn’t have to wait too long for it to felt asleep again. The cat was still weak from its hardships, it would be a miracle if it could get back on its feet on only one measly meal and a warm room to sleep. He gently extracted the cat from its hiding spot, placing it into the carrier loaded with the towel its used last night and locking it up.

It didn’t help that the sound his bike’s engine made woke it up.

It was lively at the vet, excited barking and confused meowing and the occasion birdcalls all mixed together in the lobby. Galo walked up to the registration counter and greeted the receptionist, “Hi, I have an appointment for a cat.”

“Are you Galo Thymos?”

“Yup!” The receptionist keyed in a few things in her computer before addressing Galo again, “Does the cat belongs to you, Mr Thymos?” Galo denied it, stating he found the cat on the street, “Actually, I would like to give it some checkup and a microchip scan to see if it belongs to anyone.” She continued to key in, “Okay. The vet will be with shortly. You can wait for the nurse to call you in the waiting room.”

The waiting room was thankfully much quieter than the lobby, there were already owners with their pets waiting for their turns. A rather friendly dog wandered to his legs for a pat when he sat down. Galo gave him a pat with the owner’s permission and shooed the dog back to his owner. He peeked into the carrier just to see the cat was curled into a small ball of fluff at the back of the carrier.

Its pretty eyes glared at him when it noticed Galo’s watching.

“Sorry, but you are overdue for a checkup. Do you belong to anyone before wandering on the streets?” That earned him an even harsher glare and a deep growling. If Galo didn’t know any better, he would say the cat could understand him, or it’s probably that the cat was just hostile towards any unfamiliar things around it.

The wait not as long as Galo predicted when he heard his name being called by the nurse.

“Good afternoon, sir. My name is Dr. Ardebit and I’ll be your vet today.” A petite looking woman greeted him in the examination room, and she looked familiar somehow. Galo deposited the cat carrier on the examination table and explained what he wished for this visit. “So, it’s a stray and you wish to perform a microchip scan?”

“That’s right.” Galo unlocked the carrier as the vet picked up her scanner. The cat refused to come out of the tiny space. “It seems a bit shy.” Dr. Ardebit commented, she instructed Galo to detach the top of the carrier so she can get to work. Galo was murmuring soft words to the cat, in hope of it won’t be too nervous for a scan.

The cat was still cornered itself at the back even when it was exposed to the outside.

Dr. Ardebit carefully eased the scanner at the back of the cat’s neck, it only growled upon contact but never lashed out at her. She did a universal scan to ensure that the chip did not wander off from its original location.

“Well, as far as I can tell. This cat is a real stray.” She jotted down in her notebook, “Did you feed him anything earlier?” Galo just said the cat did not touch the food left out for it. “It’s normal for cat to feel stress of new surroundings.” She pulled on a pair of blue surgical gloves before approaching the cat, “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” She cooed to it when the cat tried to swipe at her, “I can tell it’s a boy and not neutered. A bit thin, probably malnourished…… organs felt fine, nothing enlarged or swelling.” She stated out loud as she moved her hands feeling the cat’s body. Galo would tried to pet him for comfort if not for the cat would hiss at him every time he got too close for his likings.

Dr. Ardebit motioned for her assistance, “Common problems on him, ear mites and fleas, but easily treatable. I’ll have to draw some blood for internal tests.” Her assistance helped her in holding the cat secure along with Galo as she drew blood. The cat growled menacingly but unable to do anything as he was warped in a towel as safety precautions.

“Surprisingly, he did not have any internal complications I could detect. He is very healthy for a stray. For now, you will just have to help him regains lost weight and treat his ear mites.” Dr. Ardebit seemed pleased with the results, “The nurse will give him a bath before you take him home. Please don’t forget to pick up the medicines and vitamins I prescribed at the medicine counter.” He collected said pills and liquid medications while waiting for the nurse to clean the cat.

The clock passed the thirty minutes marked when the nurse called Galo in. The cat had been cleaned and dried and sulking inside the carrier. Galo did not want to bother the sulking cat for now, so he did the next best thing. Paid for the visit, “You planned on keeping him? Even if you don’t, it would be best to give him a name to familiarize with. Thought it will be tough if you gotten attached to him.”

Galo hummed and peered into the opening of the carrier. He was surprised that the cat was not grey in color, instead a beautiful pure white that seemed to gleam even in the dark space of the carrier. “Huh, you’re beautiful. I never saw a white cat that looked like you.” The cat seemed to notice the stare, turned around and showed his butt to the door. “A bit of fiery attitude too, huh? Guess I had an idea on what to call him.”

“Oh? Please indulge my curiosity.”

“His name is Lio. Lio Fotia.”

Lio was introduced once again to Galo’s living room. The moment Galo opened the carrier, Lio had swiftly darted under the couch again. He could heard some muffled hissing and growling from the couch when he tried to approach, so he gave up and went to the kitchen to fix up some food for Lio.

Chicken and fish cooked and shredded, vitamins crushed and mixed in, a bit of meat broth blended in for hydration, he placed the bowl of food near to the couch, letting the cat decided when it is safe to eat in here.

Lio is a resilient and stubborn little thing. He actually persisted almost until dinner time before Galo caught him sneaking the food when he came out from the workout room. At least he relaxed enough to eat now, he though. His dinner was simple stir fried vegetable with a side of fish. Calling take out would cause unnecessary stress to Lio, so he chose to cook instead.

Galo settled down on the couch from some recreational TV watching, he out right ignored the cat and immersed himself in his show, not knowing Lio had peeked his head from under the couch to observe. He still hid back inside when Galo so much as moving a muscle and it continued for the next two hours.

Lio poked out again after a while, just to find Galo had passed out on the couch. The TV now showing a cooking reality show instead of the movie he was watching before. The volume of the TV had been lower to a reasonable level as not to disturb. The cat gingerly came out of his hiding spot, reddish gold eyes studying the sleepy man before taking a light leap to reach onto the couch.

The springy leather barely gave away at the thin weight. Pink nose twitching now and then, a delicate paw patted at his arm and blinked. A few seconds later, Lio hauled himself into Galo’s lap, curled up into a ball of fluffs, and closed his eyes satisfyingly drifting back to sleep.

Galo was both overjoyed and surprised that Lio trusted him enough to be willing to join him in sleep the next morning when he woke up to feeling his legs tingling and numb. The white fluff was rumbling with purrs like a mini motor engine. Now that Lio was out in the open, Galo finally had the chance to observe, Lio has snowy white medium fur on his body and a long fluffy tail, curled around his body.

He let him slept for a few more moments before he stealthily removed him from his perch and went on to start his morning routine.

* * *

It was cold and dark.

He hungrily walked in the dark alley, trying his best to find something edible to eat in the trash cans but having no luck. Winter had approached early this year, and he still had not found a new place to stay warm.

Small delicate paws digging through some pile of trash, small nose smelling for food to scavenge. He was too weak to properly hunt for mice, and the other cats will just chase him out of their territory. He was so, so, so tired.

The night continued to grow colder and he could no longer keep going when his belly rumbled in protest, sending pain through his body. Finally, he collapsed. Using the last ounce of his strength, he forcefully dragged himself under some sort of shelter. Vision blurring, head dizzied, he cried.

He cried out loud with his last breath, instincts wished for somebody to help, to save him from this dreadful place.

The next thing he knew, it was warm.

There was something holding him afloat in thin air, if he still had some strength left, he would be struggling to get free. But his body could only lay limply and being man-handled by this giant who might be going to hurt him.

He’s so tired……

He felt warm, drifting in and out of consciousness. There was a fragrance wafting in his nose, a sweet taste burst onto his tongue. Hunger overcame logic and he greedily suckled it down his throat to fill his empty belly.

When the taste gradually lessen, he blacked out.

When he came to, he felt warm and safe. Softness engulfed his body, making him lazy with sleep, his belly miraculously felt comfortably full and warm. He did not want to open his eyes, wished to continue these feelings in paradise.

However, the light chirping of birds had his ear twitching. He could hear what the birds were singing, which proved that he was, in fact, not in paradise. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes and found himself surrounding in white warmth.

The texture was soft and fluffy as he used to be under his paws. He kneaded the fluffy soft unconsciously, relaxing underneath the cocoon. He was so bliss that he did not notice a door opened up and a giant stumbling out of it, still dazed with sleep. It was only now that the situation dawned on him.

He was in a giant’s nest.

He was brought into the home of those creatures that used to love but in the end abandoned him into the wilderness without any warning to fend for himself. Luckily, he was good at hunting and fighting. Sometimes, some giants will even give him something to eat.

But with the cold gradually approaching, there were less giants walking around with food. He tried to hunt, but preys were decreasing in number as they went into hiding. He could only survive for so long without any sustains. In the end, he collapsed and gotten shipped away by this giant.

The thought of facing the unknown made him wary with fear. His hackles rose as he hissed to intimidate. The giant reacted to his warning, but he did not show fear. He looked at him, both eyes met, he felt like he was being challenged. When he was about to retaliate, the giant suddenly turned around and ignored him.

What? Wait, wasn’t it you just challenged me just now? Why did you retreat!?

Cat was confused.

The space was soon filled with a bitter fragrant along with a strong eggy smell. The giant was working in the room where the smell came from. He moved from the soft, warm nest, just to stick himself under the big structure in the room. The floor thudded as the giant walked around, minding his own business.

Soon, a bang and a click sounded from the other side of the room. Then, it was quiet.

The stray kept waiting in case it was a trap but there wasn’t any movement or sound within the nest.

Poking his head out of the structure, he eyed the room in front of him. The nest solely belonged to the giant, the whole place is thick with his scents. Sensing no danger lingering, he came out to explore. Small nose twitching at the scents in the nest, familiarizing himself with everything inside as he tried to approach everything within his sight.

It was interesting.

It’s being a long time that he had a chance to explore a giant’s nest. Normally they don’t let him enter their nest. Smaller giants were much more accepting of his presence, but giant in general will just chase him out when he smelt something nice and stepped into their nest.

There was food in front of him, but he was not hungry right now.

He leaped onto a wood made structure that giant used to store their fur. There was something on top of it. He came across a flat view of the giant smiling at him inside the invisible wall. He used to see these around his former nest, so he knew it won’t hurt him. He pawed at the flower placed next to the flat view, but he was curious why it didn’t feel like the flowers outside.

The entrance clicked as footsteps stomping on the ground, alerting Cat that the giant had returned from outside. He quickly dashed off the wood structure and hid back into his hiding spot. Blue eyes peeked under the structure, he hissed out in warning. The giant left him alone again, but he won’t be fooled that easily.

He did not count that he’d fell asleep.

Then he woke up to a loud rumbling noise, causing panic to slip into his mind. He trashed inside of the tiny space that providing no comfort, in hope to escape and the scene outside continued to move at high speed. It tired him out rather quickly.

By the time the movement stopped, he’s drained.

The giant grabbed the container and entered a cool nest. The inside was noisy with all the barking and meowing, it was making him uncomfortable. The giant had put down his container and was communicating with another giant. They talked for a bit before they left for another space in the nest. A big stupid dog bounced to the giant’s leg and was too close for his taste.

Go away you happy looking dog!

The dog asked for pats, and was shooed back to his own giant.

The giant peered into the containment, he glared at him while curled into a defensive ball at the back. “Sorry, but you are overdue for a checkup. Do you belong to anyone before wandering on the streets?” Cat further narrowed his eyes and growled harshly for him to shut up.

A female giant called out after awhile and the giant holding him reacted. So, the giant’s name is Galo Thymos? Better remember it, might come in handy in the future. They entered a new space which smelt weird to him. “Good afternoon, sir. My name is Dr. Ardebit and I’ll be your vet today.” Another giantess talked to the giant. They traded sounds and words that he did not understand and the next thing he knew, the top of the containment was removed.

He was laid bare to the open.

The she-giant did not care for his defensive position, and approached him slowly with a strange device in her hands. He growled when the device came in contact but never actually lashed out. She continued to write down in her flipping paper as Galo told her something. Then the giantess put on a pair of blue rubber, Cat had panic and swiped out his claws when she came close. She cooed as to make him relax and rubbed her hands all over his body.

The giantess said a lot of things that the stray could not understand but stay still to avoid any sudden attack from them.

He was still too high strung for Galo to corner him with the giantess as he hiss at the giant for getting close. She stopped feeling his body and motioned for somebody to come in. Cat then found himself being restraint by a soft fluff similar to what he used to sleep in this morning. The giantess in white struck a sharp prick into his flesh and he could only growl in protest.

The giantess in green did not release him, she followed the white giantess order and brought him away from Galo. A blast of water make him flinched as the stream hit his back, wetting his fur. It was torture. He tried to get away but the giantess never relented. If anything, she’s crazily strong for someone so delicate looking. She scrubbed a faint smelling substance onto his fur before spraying with water again.

A hellish thirty minutes passed when he was finally toweled off at the blowing platform. She put him back into the container Galo brought him in before cleaning of the furs on her. He curled back into the small space to sulk. Galo had intercepted the container from the green giantess and was talking again with the first giantess. Then he peered into the small space to look at him again much to his displeasure.

“Huh, you’re beautiful. I never saw a white cat that looked like you.”

He did not want to look at right now, so he turned his back to the giant and ignored Galo. “A bit of fiery attitude too, huh? Guess I had an idea on what to call him.”

“Oh? Please indulge my curiosity.”

“His name is Lio. Lio Fotia.” His ear twitched at the sound. That…… did not sound bad…… actually.

Cat, now formerly named Lio straight away dashed under the structure once they reached Galo’ nest and hid away from sight. He complained all the way from underneath by hissing and growling at Galo when he saw his feet approaching his hiding spot.

The white-clad foot turned away and Lio intended to stay hidden. But Galo wasn’t gone for long and he placed something that smelt delicious in front of Lio’s hideaway. Lio was nothing but stubborn as he waited for a long time before deciding that food is actually more important than his pride. He knew Galo had spotted him coming out to eat, but seeing he did not come to him, Lio ignored it.

After night had fallen, Galo had settled himself on the structure Lio was hiding under. A blink of light flashed into his space. The flickering flashes intrigued him. It slowly but surely coaxing him to come out and observed those flashing view inside the black box that giants like to spent most of their time on. Lio was still wary enough to dart back whenever he noticed Galo moved a muscle.

The routine repeated for two hours before Lio found out that Galo had fall asleep. His chest rising up and down evenly indicating he is indeed asleep. The black box was now showing a flurry of movements with the giants playing with fires and foods. The sound coming from it was lowered significantly. Lio slowly emerged from under to peer at Galo’s sleepy form.

The giant was snoring lightly, but otherwise did not move much in his sleep.

He gently leaped onto the structure, smooth and cool sensations felt nice under his paws. Lio tested the surface by pushing harder onto the surface, it was springy too. His pink nose twitched as he tried to identify Galo’ scent. Stepping closer, he could felt a rush of warmth radiating from the slumbering giant. Out of curiosity, he lifted his paw to pat at Galo’s arm and only to blink in shock to find that he ran much, much hotter than he realized.

As if in thrall, Lio migrated onto Galo’s lap and settled down into a ball, absorbing all the warmth Galo was providing.

Oh. Ohhhhhhhh. This feel so nice…… So warm…… I don’t want to get off him forever.

Lio felt into a dreamless sleep, chest rumbling softly with purrs.

* * *

The next morning, he woke to feeling cold and found himself was removed to the couch from Galo’s lap. Lio grumbled as he forced awake to follow where the giant had gone to, giving off soft meows at him. He tracked him down at the bathroom, sticks his paws into the gap under the door. Galo was brushing his teeth when he felt a ticklish sensation on his bare feet.

Looking down a white paw was trying to breach the locked door. Feeling funny, he unlocked the door and the cat just barged in. Without any warning, he started to climb and perched onto Galo’s shoulder.

And that’s final.

Now he could not even put the cat on the floor for more than ten minutes. “You know, for a cat that was still hissing at me like an offended snake just yesterday, you do warm up pretty fast.” To tell the truth, Galo does not think cats trust that easily and apparently, Lio had claimed his shoulder as his spot with a capital S.

He could only get him off long enough for him to get dress. He was hopeful, at least when it came to the cat clinging to him as he was about to head to work. “You can’t come with me. It’s too dangerous for you.” Lio blinked his beautiful, innocent eyes and Galo folded like wet tissue paper.

Looks like Burning Rescue was about to meet their new team member today.


	2. In Which The Cat Brought in Strays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio was not happy with strangers and Galo's too oblivious  
> Lio brought in strays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I never explicitly mention about Galo adopting Lio, this chapter will show he indeed adopted Lio in the end.
> 
> So, small warning about adoption and irresponsible people trying to adopt pretty kitties in order to show off.

Much to the dismay of Chief Ignis, Lio was decided that he could stay in the Burning Rescue headquarters. The girls loved the cat, even thought he was mean to them.

There had been more than a few stares along the way when he walked to the station. Lio perching on his shoulder and ignoring the piercing gazes like it’s none of his damn business. Some pedestrians want to pet him and earned an annoyed hiss.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Lio! Behave!” The white fluff just stared at Galo like he said something stupid. “Seriously, what’s your problem?” Galo was sick of apologizing after the third person, so he speed walked to the station to avoid the crowd.

Out of the pan and right into the fire.

Galo was notorious for not putting extra layers when the weather was cold. So imagine their surprise when he dashed into the break room with an extra fluff around his neck. It was one thing to wear a fur-trimmed coat, it’s another thing to wear a cat around one’s neck.

“Galo! When did you decide to get a proper winter gear?” Aina was the first to spot the difference. She had assumed at first sight that the ring of fur was a part of Galo’s coat, until said fur lifted his head and searched for the source of disturbance. Pretty eyes shined like gems under the fluorescent light in the building, enhancing his beauty.

Realizing that it was an animal, the girl was quick to coo at him.

Aina had been a lover of animals ever since her sister had opened up her own practice, she would drop by from time to time during her days off for a quick visit or to help out. Seeing such a beautiful specimen lounging on Galo’s shoulder like a feather boa is kind of weird and cute. She approached the man in hope of getting a few pets from the cat but was instead greeted with a hiss and flicking tail.

Both are the ultimate signs of an annoyed cat.

“Sorry, Aina. Lio doesn’t seem to like strangers getting close to him.” Galo sincerely felt sorry for anyone that was captivated by Lio’s beauty and only to be rejected by a cold hiss. At least the cat was in his element. He was a bit anxious about the new environment that the fire station provided. Pointy ears twitched at every single sound they could pick out, pupils un-dilating in agitation.

“You sure his gonna be okay over there? I don’t think he looks so cool……” Being educated in cat behavior, Aina was a bit worried with the kitty’s behavior and Galo being the oblivious idiot he was still not doing anything to get the cat off him before getting hurt on accident, “Nah, he’s fine. I can’t really get him off me for more than ten minutes. He would just climb on top of me again.”

He started to scratch Lio’s chin to placate him, soon the cat relaxed and drooped slightly like a piece of cloth. “Aww, you’re just shy, aren’t you? Don’t worry, everyone’s here pretty nice!” Lio just meowed at his words, but immediately turned his head and stared at the new arrival.

“Is it Galo’s turn to have a pet in here now?” Burning Rescue second in command, Remi commented as he walked in with his morning coffee, unbothered by the unsettling gaze. “Not the smartest choice, I would say. Seeing we already had a rat as a mascot.” Although he wasn’t actively disapprove of Galo bringing in a cat to the station.

“Shit! I can’t believe I actually forgot about Vinny.” He picked the cat off of his shoulder to stare at him straight in the eyes, “Lio, promise me you won’t eat Vinny.” Lio made a face at him and pushed his face away with those cute little paws. “Meow.”

“Aww, he’s so cute. Too bad he won’t let me pet him.”

They left it at there when it’s time for work. Galo was responsible to cleaning and turning their gears today, so he won’t be leaving the station unless there was an emergency. To his surprise, Lio didn’t actually stay on his shoulder for the whole day. He wandered off after an hour in of Galo scrubbing the fire trucks.

“Going a walk?” Lio meowed in response and wandered off to wherever he wished.

Galo wasn’t too worried about him. Lio was as clean as a house cat can be, he’s pretty calm considering being a spitfire when he felt like it. Finding him a forever house probably won’t be hard, white cats are pretty rare to find around this area. The vet had probably mentioned about his breed, but Galo’s not sure about it.

He was just finished cleaning up before a sharp and tiny screech echoed through the station.

Shocked, he turned to the source of it just to see Vinny running away in fear looking for his owner and darting towards Galo for help. Behind his was a menacing Lio chasing after him for sports. “Lio! No!” Galo quickly grabbed the rat in his palms, shielding him for the cat. Lio was unhappy that he stopped his fun, circling around his legs begging him to release the rat so he could play.

Galo shivered at the thought of Lio decapacitating poor little Vinny. The rat squeaked in fear as he hid.

Lio realizing he wasn’t allowed to play with Vinny, huffed dejectedly. Galo let Vinny free on his little runway Lucia built for him to let get back to Lucia’s lab. The cat eyed the rat with a longing look before decided to climb on Galo once again.

From that moment, Galo decided to immediately search for a forever home for Lio.

He take it back. It was impossible!

Galo had taken some of Lio’s photo to put it up to his social media in order to find his a new permanent owner. Since Galo was not able to meet those who were interested in adopting due to his busy schedule, so his statement asked of them to visit the fire station if they are really interested in Lio.

To tell the truth, it was a disaster.

Not only Lio managed to piss off every single one of them, he also declared his distaste very loudly…… By hissing, growling and peeing at everyone. Really, Lio? Apparently, the cat owners had their own means of private communication and Galo had been receiving emails about getting Lio for therapy and treatment or consider sending him to the correct people who could discipline him.

“Ya know what?” Lucia pointed her lollipop at the cat playing with a squeaky ball at Galo’s foot, “I think he just want you. Ya sure, he hissed and scratched.” As if to prove a point, she bended down to pet Lio but gotten a smack on the hand, “See that? He smacked but he never hurt me. But, with you, he’s the definition of an angel.”

Galo looked at the white fluff that decided it was tired and lied on his feet for a nap, “But I’m sure there somebody who could do a better job at keeping him.”

“Don’t bother, you idiot. Lio clearly claimed you as his. Might as well live up to it.” She said with a smug grin, “Beside, it was consider a blessing if you’re chosen by a cat.” With that, Lucia went back to her lab to tinker, leaving Galo deep in though.

He took down the adoption statement later.

Ignis had been a bit irritated with the so called interested in adopting people. He was not sure if Galo had caught on, but he could tell some of those people were not as sincere as they made themselves to be. He understood, Lio is a very beautiful specimen of cat, probably a Turkish Angora mix. Don’t judge him, his daughter is an avid cat fanatic equipped with correct knowledge about them. People instinctually seek out beautiful things, living or no living. He could tell some of those people do not even own a cat, not excluding the fact they used to have, but it’s no excuse when they answered incorrectly about some health related questions.

There was one of them who eyed the cat like a piece of meat, probably thinking he would be a fine asset to show off in the future. Thankfully, while Galo is dense, Lio is smart. Ignis was not sure how smart Lio is, but judging the reaction he made every time those people tried to pet without permission……

Lio is scarily smart. Or it had been a reaction to his past experience.

When Galo took down the statement, Ignis was secretly relieved, thought he’s not sure the smirk Lucia been giving him.

Although he had hesitation about the cat staying at the station, seeing it wasn’t trained it like Vinny and Vinny is a rat. Even that he did terrorized Vinny at one point and they can’t even blame him for chasing Vinny either. He’s a cat for god’s sake! But! But…… Ignis would know a very happy cat when he saw one. And Lio is only a happy cat when he’s with Galo.

Who’s he kidding? Even Varys can see it, literally anyone could see it!

“When do you plan on adopting Lio for real?” He asked Galo after the man handed in his report at Ignis’ office. “Huh? I thought I did?”

“Really? Because I did not see a collar on him. Please tell me you remembered to register him in the least.” At Galo’s sheepish smile, he decided he had forgotten about it. “Tell you what? I’m giving you two days off starting tomorrow and you will get Lio registered, chipped him and get him whatever necessary to keep a cat. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal clear, sir.”

Lio had settled down pretty well into a home life. It’s been a few weeks since Galo had took him in and now, he owned a feeding bowl, a drinking foundation, a cat tower, a litter box, tons of cat toys and finally a classy collar. Galo had wanted to pick some simple one in case Lio didn’t like to be restricted but instead of that, the cat straight away rejected the simple collar in distaste.

He smacked at Galo whenever he tried to pick up a collar until Lio meowed his displeasure. “Well, since you hate this one so much, why don’t you choose one?” And he did.

When they leave the pet accessory shop, Lio sported a cravat-designed collar with a black tag engraved with Galo’s contact information and house address. He swore he never saw a cat looking that proud, and he’s happy he could make Lio proud.

They developed a comfortable routine between the two of them. Galo had let Lio to perch on him for most of the time and when there’s an emergency, Lio knew that he had to stay back. Did he ever mention Lio is a really intelligent cat? Because he is a very intelligent cat.

Galo never restricted Lio’s freedom around the house, so the cat was free to roam around and eventually figured out how to open the window for a quick tour outside. At first, it scared Galo when he though Lio was missing, until he saw the slick little thing climbed in through the window. “You could have at least warned me about going out for a walk, Lio.” He hugged Lio close complaining, and Lio just purred at him.

On one night, Galo had gotten Lio food before having a hot shower to sooth his protesting muscle. The water was the right level of scalding. As he was drying his hair with a towel and on his way to the kitchen, he was not prepared for the scene happening before him.

Supposedly, Lio should be nibbling into his meal in the bowl, not two stranger cats he didn’t know about. Lio was guarding at the cats’ side, presumably being cautious out of habit. After observing for a few moments, Galo just rummaged through his cabinet for a couple of spare bowls he picked up before and poured out of food before sliding it close to the new strays and Lio.

Lio meowed in gratitude and tried to nudge one of the cats towards the second bowl.

It dug into the meal fast. (And no, Galo had not confirmed their gender.)

He had assumed the strays would leave after having dinner, but they seemed to latch onto Lio. They followed Lio everywhere he went. Lio knew he was not allow to stay when Galo had to work in the kitchen unless it was to eat, so he went to the living room to start on his grooming session. The two strays followed him and let him groomed them in return.

Both strays were larger than Lio, one has grayish blue long hair and the other is short haired maroon brown in color. Interestingly, both of them had their left ear tipped. Galo had to do some research regarding to that.

When he approached the cats, Lio automatically moved onto his lap and the duo crept closer to him but didn’t jump on to steal Lio’s throne. “Hey there. Where you guys come from?” He reached out, letting the new cats familiarizing themselves. Before long, the long haired cat was purring while resting his head on Galo’s calf whereas the other stray decided it was feeling playful enough to entertain itself with Lio’s toys.

He wondered if this was a one-time thing.

But they are back the next evening. And the next, and the next, until they straight out followed him to Burning Recue.

“Galo, you better be grateful. You meathead.” Lucia eyed the lounging cats, “You are very, very blessed, you ungrateful man.” Galo could felt Ignis pinching the bridge of his nose, “Galo……”

“I swear I didn’t bring them in! They just followed me here! And you can’t expect me to chase them out into the cold!” For someone trying to explain themselves, Galo was bodily honest as he tried to block the cats from Ignis’ scrutinization.

Remi sighed, “Did you feed them?” At the nod of yes, he had a simple understanding of the situation, “They probably latched onto Lio for the food and since you had fed them, they will always come back for more. You know you don’t feed strays and expect them to leave you alone, Galo. They always come back.”

“I didn’t mean to…… It just they looked so hungry.”

“We’re not blaming you, idiot.” Aina flicked at Galo’s forhead, earning a pained hey!, “Knowing you and your big heart, it’s a matter of time before you deciding to go and run a foster home. Since they had chosen you as Lucia said, take proper responsibility then. You already had Lio, I don’t think it will be a problem to take those two in. Those three looked terribly comfortable together. Did they ever fight?”

“Not that I know of. They are oddly docile for strays…… I thought those will be more wary towards humans, but you can see.” Aina merely shrugged her shoulder, “Probably because they had been neutered, who knows? At least tell us their names before you had to run off.”

“I haven’t name them yet.”

“Barbarian…… I’m friends with a barbarian……” Aina fake mourned at him and got a playful push on the shoulder by a flustered Galo, “Stop making me feel like an idiot. I had no idea what to call them……” He watched as Vinny tried to sneak his cheese past the liquefy felines.

A maroon paw slapped right on top of him out of nowhere and the rat squeaked in surprise.

It seemed that the brown stray had set his eyes on the poor mascot. Galo was prepared to interfere with it but then the gray one lashed out on his friend, making him let go of Vinny. The poor rat immediately ran to Lucia. At this point the strays were arguing with annoyed meows and angry hisses. All the commotion woke Lio from his morning nap and made him very cranky.

“Hmm…… If I didn’t know any better, the gray one seems calmer?” Aina observed, “And the brown one was a bit……”

“Stupid?” Lucia supplied in spite.

“Hot-headed. I was going to say hot-headed.”

“How about Meis and Gueira?” Remi provided hopefully, “Meis from a variant of the Dutch name Mys, which meant mercy. Gueira is a word play of the Guerra war, which I think suits our little hot-headed friend there.” All of them were just ignoring Lio putting Meis and Gueira back into their place and cheerfully decided on the strays’ new names.

When they turned to Ignis, the chief sighed in resignation, “Welcome to the team, then.”

* * *

Lio was getting more and more annoyed at the constant attention he was receiving. The giants had never paid him any attention before this. He was still the same as he was before, just feeling more clean now, so what the big difference? Nerves thinning, he resorted to hissing at those who were trying to touch him.

“Don’t touch me! Go away!”

Stares he could endure, but not unpermitted touches. “I said no touching!”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Lio! Behave!” Galo yelled at him for hissing. He folded down his ears at the volume and pulled a face looked at him. Really? I don’t like people touching me, giant. And I’m not going to allow it any time soon. Be grateful that you’re allowed to do it. Galo probably had got what Lio was saying since he quickly escaped the crowd by moving even faster to his destination.

Just when Lio thought it going to quiet down, until Galo was greeted with a “Galo! When did you decide to get a proper winter gear?” A giantess sprinted up to them, her eyes sparkling when they landed on him. Lio could see she was trying to go for a pet, so he warned her in advance.

Long fluffy tail flicking at the tip with a “Don’t touch me.” At least the giantess had much more common sense than the others. She stopped just as Lio gave out the warnings. Lio was stressed, he had never been in the place before and the new smells and sights were making him nervous. Instinctually, he curled closer to Galo’s neck, keeping his ears alert for every sounds around them. Galo was still taking to the giantess, which he learnt was named Aina, but he seemed the figured out Lio was comfortable and gave a little tickle under the chin.

It felt so good and comfortable that it made Lio went limping like a noodle. He responded absent-mindly in regards to Galo’s comment. Then a series of footsteps startled him to alertness. It was another giant with a weird thin lining on his face. He wasn’t a threat so Lio paid him no mind.

Then out of nowhere, Galo picked him up and stared at him eye to eye. It was making him very, very uncomfortable. “Lio, promise me you won’t eat Vinny.” Lio made a disgusted face when Galo got even closer, so he pushed the face away. “Not so close, it’s weird.”

They soon separated and Lio was back on Galo’s shoulder. Lio considered continue to nap as Galo went on his own business, which was tending to weird big boxes with wheels. He was intrigued by the work at the start but grew bored as time flies. Feeling restless, Lio leaped off and decided to explore the new place. This place smelt strongly of strange odor, Lio figured he might restrain from exploring that for now.

He wandered into nooks and crannies, nose poking at every dust bunnies gathered under the structures giants used for storing things. He found a metallic sphere at one point and played with it. It clinked and clanked as the cat batted the sphere around in mock hunting practice. The metal sphere rolled off when he batted too hard. Not ready to end the fun just yet, Lio chased after it, only to stumble upon something that he regularly sees in the alleys.

It was a rat, albeit a weird one wearing something on his head.

He lurked in the shadows, creeping steadily closer and closer to the unsuspecting creature. The rat was grabbing a cheese from the table and was now munching on it. Lio continued to remain hidden until the right moment, he ambushed the rat.

The rat dodged at the nick of time, staring at the feline in fear. He squeaked for help, abandoning his food and ran for his life. Lio was persistence if nothing. He chased after the rat, uncaring for anything else. The rat ran, darting into nooks and crannies right until he spotted Galo and ran towards him. Once Galo saw them, he had nabbed the rat into his hands, stopping Lio from his fun.

Lio realized that Galo had halted his fun with the rat but he still tried to see if he would relinquished the rat by circling his leg, looking at him with pleading eyes. But Galo was stubborn, he even closed his palms on the rat to block Lio’s advance.

“You’re no fun, Galo.” He huffed in annoyance.

Lio watched Galo released the rat as he ran to safety, sighing.

Then there was the chaos.

Lio was getting very, very stressed out. These few days had been terrible, not only there always new giants coming and going, they had dared to interact with him! This getting real frustrating. Moreover, Galo had been allowing them to interact with him! Why would he do that!? Can’t he see he doesn’t like it!?

“I said NO! Don’t TOUCH me!” Lio screeched to new arrival, a giantess that gave off a really bad vibe. The giantess had been eyeing him like a piece of meat, and he hated it. Aside from all the verbal complaints, Lio had also pissed on things, especially the belonging of the so called adopters. It did the job alright, keeping them pissed off.

But Galo was also getting stress out by the new giants and Lio could not get it. If he’s stressed out by them, why not stop them from showing up? It’s a win-win situation if no more new giants are showing up. “Why are you like this, Lio?” Galo had bundled up Lio in his arms like a small giant, “Do you hate the idea of a perfect forever home?” Blinking his perfect amber-ish eyes, Lio batted at Galo’ fringe, “I had no idea what are you talking about, idiot.”

“Aww, it’s not fair that you’re so cute and I had to give you up.” Galo buried his face into Lio’s fluffy belly, wailing something that he did not understand but hated the sound of it. He decided to cling even closer to Galo.

“Ya know what?” Lucia pointed her lollipop at Lio when he was playing with a squeaky ball at Galo’s foot, “I think he just want you. Ya sure, he hissed and scratched.” Lio batted her away when he saw her approaching, “See that? He smacked but he never hurt me. But, with you, he’s the definition of an angel.” Galo locked eyes with him, but Lio was tried out from the exercise and felt asleep on top of Galo’ feet, “But I’m sure there somebody who could do a better job at keeping him.” But the mad giantess, Lucia countered, “Don’t bother, you idiot. Lio clearly claimed you as his. Might as well live up to it.” She said with a smug grin, “Beside, it was consider a blessing if you’re chosen by a cat.” Was the last thing Lio heard before drifting off.

The whole fiasco died out after a few days and now Lio is a very happy cat. Galo had brought him back to the white giantess and they did something to him, but he had no evidences because he felt faint and blacked out during it. When he recovered, Galo took him to a new place, picking up new objects. Lio was placed inside an opened air metal container and was allowed to poke and explored around. Galo always showed him things that were interesting to investigate.

“You like this?” It was black bowl with cute little fire markings on it, Lio approved it enough for Galo to put it in the cart. Next was something inside a box and it was white and Lio had no idea about it. But he did saw something he liked. When the cart (Is that was Galo called it?) stopped near the towering item, Lio could not resisted and climbed onto it.

Galo merely laughed at him and made some comment like I’ll have this too.

The rest of the trip was uneventful as they collected another big container, a full basket of fun things and a collar of Lio’s own choice. He felt pity for Galo’s poor taste on collars. He had initially picked out a plain looking one with no class at all. Lio had stopped him from unhooking it. “Stop picking that, I don’t like it.”

. “Well, since you hate this one so much, why don’t you choose one?” And Lio did. He nosed at the one he like, it was white like him and fluffed out too. Galo had been amused and had some giant to put some touch on the collar. When they’re finally done, Lio had been officially the cat that belongs to Galo. His black tag glittered proudly on his chest.

A life with a permanent and safe nest could never been better.

Galo was lenient with Lio’s schedule, so he could come and go as he pleased. When he figured out how to get the invisible wall opened, he went for a patrol on his territory. Galo owned a very nice nest with the perfect environment. It has everything a cat could hope for. He carefully established his claim on this place by marking it down and to warn off any other cats that think they have a chance to this place.

There weren’t much strays around here, so Lio don’t need to worry so much, but one day he met two of them at the same time when he was out for his daily patrol.

Both were male cats that were larger than Lio, but somehow they were not aggressive like the others he met before. The cats were chilling out on the side of the road, one was a blue gray colored one with long hair and the other was a short haired one with maroon brown coloring. It was the brown one that noticed him, “Hey, never seen you before. Ya new around here?” He stood and came towards Lio. He might be bigger, but Lio did not sense any dominance coming from him. He rubbed nose with the new cat and bunted head together, “I just moved here recently by a giant.”

“Oh! Cool! Seeming your human give you free range exploring the neighborhood.” The cat said, “Well, nice to meet ya! I’m Mad!”

“And I’m Burnish.” The blue cat introduced. “Together, we’re Mad Burnish!” Burnish finished off. They were alright, Lio thought. Sure, they smelt non-threatening, but Lio had no intention of ruling a colony. “We’re only been back here since yesterday. The humans did something but I’m not sure what it is, just that I can feel cold air beneath my tail.” Lio wasn’t sure what he’s talking about.

They talked for a while before Lio had to go back to the nest.

“Will you guys be here tomorrow?”

“Sure, why not? We kind of live here.”

“Perfect.”

Lio came back the next day, and the next and the next, until one day he heard the rumbling, “You’re hungry?” Mad had been feeling weak and tire, Burnish wasn’t doing any better too. Lio still looked as pristine as he was after a fresh bath from the first day. “You guys doing ok?”

“Been better. It’ been hard to find food now, humans rarely lingered in this kind of weather. It was too cold for them.” Burnish groomed on Mad’s matted fur, trying to comfort, “There wasn’t much in the trash cans either. I’m worried that we’ll need to find some plans if we want to survive the winter.” A chilly breeze blew by, ruffling up furs. Mad sneezed and Lio made up his mind.

He led them back to Galo’s home. (Mad and Burnish had been teaching Lio the terms that giants, he meant humans used in their daily lives.) He had them hid under the bushes Galo kept in the backyard, “I had to follow Galo off during the days, but there been some food lying around that you can have.” He literally dragged out a piece of bread from the kitchen counter for his friends.

It was a peaceful ordeal when night came.

Galo went to shower after having Lio’s food in his bowl and on the floor. Lio opened the hatch on the window and let the strays in. “Here, you can have this.”

“But, that’s your food.”

“Galo can get more.” Lio insisted. After a brief push-and-pull courtesy, Lio pushed the bowl towards them. Unable to resist the tempting aroma, both cats dug into the meal. He could tell Galo’s surprise when he walked into the kitchen. Truthfully the white feline never thought about Galo’s reaction, but to his relief, Galo just stared at them for a while before getting more food out of the cabinets. He even got another bowl for Mad and Burnish.

“Thank you. Burnish, you can eat from this one.” Lio meow his thanks before nudging Burnish to the second bowl.

Mad Burnish decided they wanted to follow Lio.

Lio was benevolent, he did not hesitate to share food to strangers like them. Cats are solitary animals, they keep their hunts to themselves. So when Lio decided to lead them to his home, they had decided to follow him and keep him safe.

After dinner, Lio showed them to the living room since Galo banned Lio from the kitchen at all times besides meal times. They curled up together for a nice little after meal grooming. It was nice and calming.

Galo entered the living soon after and Lio abandoned his post to claim his human throne, fitting nicely between Galo’s lap and purring up a storm. Mad Burnish approached Galo cautiously and curiously, seemingly wary from Galo’s perspective. He reached out a finger, letting Mad nosing him before he rubbed in greeting. The human smelt nice, felt nice and homey. And more importantly, he radiated warmth. Before they knew it, Burnish had cuddled up to Galo’ calf purring in content. Mad was distracted by the vast amount of toys scattered on the floor and began to play with them.

They left in the morning and came back after dark.

It continued for roughly about a week before they followed Galo to his work place.

And boy, did that attracts attentions.

The blonde little missy was eyeing them but clearly talking with Galo in an irritated tone. Well, most of them sounded irritated at Galo, did he did something wrong? Lio wondered, not knowing he was the main cause of distress in Burning Rescue.

“I swear I didn’t bring them in! They just followed me here! And you can’t expect me to chase them out into the cold!” Galo was yelling. There was a minor squabble before they quieted down. Lio turned over and tried to continue his morning nap.

He was so close to asleep when Mad slapped his paw and let something emitted a loud frightful squeak, “Help!”

“Release the rat, Mad!” Burnish slapped his friend’s head, making him loose his hold on it, “What? Aww, now it got away!” He eyed the escaped prey in dismay, “Why did you do that, Burnish!? It was a rat! It was food!”

“It was not! Can’t you see the proof of domestication on its head?”

It almost evolved into a full blown cat fight if not for Lio putting a stop on it.

“I was trying to sleep! Stop squabbling like kittens!” Lio slapped them with his paws, “Also that rat is Vinny and he’s off limits. Trust me, you won’t want to know the consequences of harming him.” Mad and Burnish were still freaked out by the horrible outcome if harm was upon the rat, Galo descended on them. He picked Lio up and cradled him, “Look who’s a good role model? Yes you are, Lio. By the way!”

He turned to the strays, “Welcome to the team! Meis! Gueira!”

It was well after a long trip to Dr. Ardebit (Galo just found out she was Aina’s older sister) again only did it sank in.

“Well, I guess you guys are Meis and Gueira now.”

Meis, formerly known as Burnish, announced by the vet was most likely a British Long-haired mix , now sported a pink studded leather collar with a fish shaped tag, “Huh, I didn’t expect this.” He batted at the tag, something that he never thought he could own. “This Galo really is something else huh?” Gueira, formerly known as Mad, probably a British Short-haired mix, now equipped with a blue leather collar with a cat shaped tag, “I like him! He’s good!” His tail tip flickered in excitement.

Galo was sorting out something in the other room, but Lio was sure he could hear them.

“Galo!”

* * *

Galo was in fact storing the new packages of kibble into the storeroom before being interrupted by a loud meow. Ensuring the bags won’t topple, he locked the door before heading to the living room. Lio was meowing with the newly adopted cats besides him. When Galo was in sight, he ran up to him and rubbed against his shin, “Is there something you want?”

“Meow.”

Meis and Gueira had trotted up to him too, he knelt down to be eye-leveled with the cats, “What’s the matter?” He gave each kitty a scratch behind the ear, watching them rubbing against him, all the while purring like his bike’s motor. “Guess you’re pretty happy. Heh, now you’re part of the firefighting family! Fire fighting cats!” Galo gave Meis a sweet nuzzle to the nose, earning an impatient bunting from Gueira, “Okay! Okay! One kiss for you too!” Gueira growled softly, pleased with the nuzzling.

Lio scrambled up to Galo’s shoulder, enjoying the closeness as it is.

It was so warm and happy……

**Author's Note:**

> Lio speaks in cat speaks, so he actually substituted the objects he didn't know about into something he knows.
> 
> Here a list of Lio's cat speak:  
> Giant = Human/Man  
> Nest = House  
> Smaller giant = Children  
> Giantess = Woman  
> Structure = Couch  
> Wood made structure = Drawer  
> Flat-view in invisible wall = Picture frame  
> Container/Containment = Pet carrier  
> Space = Room  
> Blue rubber = Blue gloves  
> Soft fluff = towel  
> Blowing platform = Blowing station
> 
> That's probably all of them......( i might missed some but oh well.


End file.
